


Salt Water

by StarReads



Series: V3 Summer Shenanigans! [4]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, Drowning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Harumota if you squint, Hurt/Comfort, I Made Myself Cry, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I love my girl, I love myself some hurt/comfort, If you only read one work by me, Irumaeda if you squint, It's kind of scary honestly, Kind of dark, Proceed with caution, Saiouma if you squint, THIS IS THE ONE, no beta we die like men, thanks for reading, trigger warning, tw panic attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-08 15:56:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15933698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarReads/pseuds/StarReads
Summary: Everyone loves the beach! The 79th class takes a trip to the beach during summer vacationMaki doesn't want to ruin their vacation, but she can't help it.In which everyone enjoys their day at the beach while Maki has a breakdown over her dead parents.





	Salt Water

**Author's Note:**

> If y'all didn't read the tags, this is is super dark. It involves dark flashbacks, drowning, and panic attacks. If you think this content might be triggering, it's best not to read it.
> 
> This follows the events of Safe Haven, however it can be read on its own.
> 
> Edited 9/22/18: Edited for some mistakes I caught after posting!

 

 

   Hot sun burns the bottom of her feet. Maki sighs, watching the others all laugh and joke around.

Roaring, Kokichi charged past her, before pouncing on Saihara's back. "Onwards, noble stallion!" He called out, wrapping his thin legs around the detective's stomach. Saihara shook his head, that familiar weary sigh escaping his lips. "Ouma.." He said, craning his head to look at the boy. The thin supreme leader just laughed, that creepy grin stretching across his face.

Maki turned away. As much as she cared for the small leader (despite how much of a headache he was to deal with), she didn't feel like speaking to him.

The beach brought back too many memories. All the days spent laughing with her parents and playing on the beach. The smell of salt in her mother's hair on the ride home.

Maki shook those thoughts off as quickly as possible. She didn't want to go down that road again. It was too hard on her.

"Last one in the water is a lame fucking virgin!" Shouted a shrill, excited voice. Iruma often grated on Maki's nerves, more than the others did at least. Perhaps it was her vulgar, crude humor, or maybe she was just too loud. Either way, even though they were friends, Iruma never ceased to be annoying.

"Onwards, noble steed!" Kokichi called out, waving his arms. This caused him to nearly topple over, but luckily for him, Saihara caught him by the thighs. Maki raised an eyebrow at the faint red color that spread across Kokichi's cheeks. Interesting. She'd have to ask him about it later.

Maybe she could finally get back at him for teasing her about Kaito for months on end.

As Shuichi made his way to the water, Maki noticed Kokichi was wearing swimshorts she'd never seen before. Kokichi had always just worn the school swimsuit when they swam together, even outside of school. Perhaps he'd finally gotten his own pair.

Maki walked towards where Tojo was setting up the beach towels. Tojo waved as she approached. Maki nodded her head in greeting, before taking a seat on one of the beach towels.

Maki sat and watched her fellow classmates play in the water. Angie kept pushing Kokichi underwater, and he would retaliate by yanking on her hair. Tenko seemed to be sitting on a rock with Himiko, talking and splashing at the gentle waves. Gonta was giving Hoshi a lift, and he seemed to be entirely focused on balancing pebbles on Kiibo's head. For what reason, Maki couldn't tell.

And then there was Kaito. He was making finger guns and having what appeared to be a mock war with Amami and Shinguji. Or well, Amami at least. Shinguji was simply watching, arms crossed. It reminded her of a final boss in one of those fighting games Kaito played. She could never remember which one, maybe Tekken? He also hadn't taken his mask off. She was never sure why, but he avoided any question of removing it.

  
Akamatsu has joined Tojo on dry land. They seemed to be reading a book. Miu kept yelling for Akamatsu to join them, but to no avail.

Not that Maki blamed her. She didn't want to get in the water either. Though, it was for slightly different reasons.

  
Maki took a deep breath, and that's when it hit her. The smell of saltwater, the way breathing it in burned ever so slightly.

Just like it did when...

Maki is back. She's 10, and getting ready to go boating. He mother and father are laughing, glowing with love, almost like they were angels sent down to Earth. It's their anniversary, and they want to spend the evening at sea.

There's a storm in the distance. Maki expresses concern over it, but her parents wave it off. It's fine, they say. The storm won't hit before they're back to shore. It'll be fine.

  
They head out, sailing until they've found a beautiful little spot, the boats cradled by gentle waves. They laugh and eat dinner, enjoying their time together. Side by side, just living in each other's lives, those comfortable moments of silence here and there.

The storm approaching, her father trying to get the boat back to shore. The waves getting choppier. Her mother helping her into a life vest, whispering comforting words. Being caught in the storm. Her mother cradling her, assuring her that it would all be fine.

Crack.

The boat slams against a rock and snaps in half as if it were made of fragile glass instead of sturdy steel and wood. Falling into the water and being swept away by the waves. Bobbing up and down, being tossed around as if she weighed nothing. Her life left to the will of mother nature. The burning in her lungs like she was being set on fire. The salt stinging her eyes. She can't breathe. everything is cold and she's so tired.

Remembering the string on her life vest. Yanking it as hard as she possibly can. It inflates, and she's bobbing, head held just above the water. The waves just keep coming. She can't even cry anymore, her eyes are spent. She screams for her mother and father, over and over until it melts into the howling of the wind and her ears ring out.

  
She stays like that for a while, screaming until sound  no longer come out and the sides of her mouth are raw from salt.

  
Then the boat comes, and the lights make her squint. She gets pulled up and up, over the side, towards safety. She gets wrapped in towels and examined. The salt water makes her stomach churn and she heaves. A medic rubs her back, comforting her.

  
Soon, she's being given warm water and is covered in blankets. The tips of her fingers are ever so slightly blue and she giggles almost, shocked beyond belief.

  
Then she waits. And waits. And waits. They're looking for her parents, and every couple minutes, she asks where they are. She doesn't get answer.

They finally find them. Maki wishes they hadn't. Her mother and father are frozen, her father's face permanently etched with pain and her mother's face as peaceful as if she was sleeping. She reaches out for them, and her mother skin is cold and lifeless, like the pet cat that had died when she was 6.

She'd found it dead in it's bed. She'd cried and cried for hours. Even when they buried it, she was still crying.

She wanted to cry now, but she was too tired and cold and hurt. Her entire body was wracked with fear and overwhelming grief.

  
Suddenly someone was calling her name, and Maki slowly came to her senses. She cursed inwardly when she realized that everyone was staring. She could see the fear and concern coating their eyes. Kaito was right next to her now, a hand on her shoulder, like he was trying to keep her still. Then she noticed the stinging on her thighs.

  
Looking down, she saw the scratch marks and the blood. She could feel salt from her tears falling into them. She winced slightly from the pain.

Kaito picked her up. Maki felt a small surge of panic at the sudden change in height, but it quickly faded.

  
She was carried into the house and sat on a counter. Kaito reached into a cabinet and retrieved a first aid kit. He began to quietly tend to the scratches.

He stayed quiet for a long time, as a pit formed in Maki's stomach. Anxiety and the after effects of a panic attack swirled around in her throat, glueing her lips together. Her mouth was dry, and her eyes burned slightly.

When Kaito finally spoke, it was with a surprisingly quiet voice. "Maki if you don't want to talk about that's fine. But you have to left us know what triggered that. I..I don't want to see you go through that if we can prevent it." He said firmly, though she could hear the immense fear in his voice.

Maki felt guilty, even though the small rational voice in her head told her it wasn't her fault. She still felt responisble. She shouldn't have lost it like that.

"Maki? Do you not feel like speaking?" He asked. He turned around to put away the medical kit, and that's when she spoke.

"The ocean brings back..some bad memories. I thought I could handle it. I'm sorry, I'm sure you'd rather be out having fun right now." She said, muscles tensing up almost instinctually. Some primal part of her screamed out whenever she talked about her emotions, as if it was inherently a dangerous thing to do.

Kaito turned around almost immediately. "Hey, don't talk like that. I'm much more concerned with your health then the beach. It's ok, y'know? You don't have to push yourself. If something makes you panic, you don't have to try to tough it out. It's ok to take care of yourself. If it's still bothering you, stay inside for awhile. Don't go out until you can do so healthy. The beach is cool and all, but mental health's cooler, y'know?" He rambled. She found herself smiling slightly, despite everything. Kaito always was a big dumb softie.

Honestly, it wasn't fair how nice he was. Maki continued to stay quiet, as Kaito handed her a glass of water. She drank quickly, and Kaito helped her down from the counter. Her legs still shook slightly, but she felt a bit better.

They walked into the living room and sat down. Kaito spent a while just talking to her about random things, not sure subtly trying to distract her from bad thoughts. It was a sweet gesture.

The air still tasted like salt, but maybe that wasn't important. What was important was that she was here with someone who didn't make her feel like she needed to be tough constantly.

And that was a nice feeling.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
